


Fake Out

by swallowthewhale



Series: Killervibe Week [14]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Fake/Pretend Relationship, Friends to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-25
Updated: 2018-06-25
Packaged: 2019-05-28 03:31:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15039752
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/swallowthewhale/pseuds/swallowthewhale
Summary: Barry notices something new about Cisco and Caitlin's relationship. It's completely unnerving and totally unexpected.Killervibe Fanfic Week 2018: Friends to Lovers





	Fake Out

**Author's Note:**

> I had something different planned for this but I ran out of time and couldn't do it justice.
> 
> Thanks so much for all the love and comments. I've had a blast writing for Killervibe Fanfic Week!

Barry trips over thin air the first time Cisco and Caitlin walk into Star Labs holding hands, choking and turning beet red while Cisco and Caitlin give him identical concerned looks. Cisco shrugs at Caitlin and she pecks him on the cheek and they both go about their day while Barry stares at them, flabbergasted. With every sign of affection, Barry gets redder and more flustered until Iris frog-marches him out of the cortex. Cisco and Caitlin glance at each other and dissolve into giggles as they listen to Iris’s stern voice and Barry’s increasingly baffled stammering.

They both manage straight faces when Iris and Barry walk back in, Barry looking a little like a lost puppy. He manages to keep his thoughts to himself until the end of the day, when Cisco helps Caitlin into her jacket with a kiss on the cheek and an affectionate smile.

“What’s going on with you two?” Barry blurts out.

Cisco raises an eyebrow and Caitlin frowns at him. “What?” Caitlin asks.

Barry blushes. “Are you two, like, you know, um-”

Cisco cuts him off. “Are we like, um, friends?” he asks, amused.

“Well, I ah-” Barry sputters.

Iris interrupts out of pity. “Are you dating?”

Caitlin takes Cisco’s arm. “Maybe,” she says, and tugs Cisco out of the room.

Cisco breaches them to Caitlin’s living room from the Star Labs parking lot, and they both collapse onto the couch, laughing.

“That went pretty well,” Cisco admits. “I wasn’t sure they would buy it.”

Caitlin smacks his arm. “Of course they did. But we have to keep it up for a while.”

Cisco stretches his arms over his head then fishes out his phone. “Yeah, we should probably work on our cover story. Chinese?”

“Yes,” Caitlin says. “I'm going to shower first.”

Cisco waves his hand over his head in acknowledgement and dials their favorite Chinese restaurant to place an order. He flips through Caitlin’s DVD collection while he waits, which at this point is half full of DVDs he never brought back to his apartment, and reorganizes them by production company, which will irritate Caitlin to no end once she realizes.

Caitlin comes out of the shower in yoga pants and a t-shirt Cisco recognizes as his and curls into the couch next to him. “So when do we admit that this was all a ploy?”

Cisco shrugs. “When they learn their lesson about meddling into other people’s love lives?”

Caitlin rests her head on the back of the couch. “A week?”

Cisco laughs. “I think Barry will take less than that to crack. Did you see his face?”

Caitlin giggles and stands to open the door for the delivery guy. “It was worth it for just that.”

By Wednesday, three full days of Cisco and Caitlin ramping up the PDA, Barry is going stir-crazy, flinching when they touch and fleeing the room when they get too mushy.

“I think we should remind him how hard it was when he and Iris first got together,” Cisco comments after Barry zips out for the third time in an hour.

“Should we keep going?” Caitlin asks absently from over her microscope. 

“Yeah,” Cisco says. “We’ll give it up on Friday.”

Caitlin looks up at him. “Should we stage an awful breakup?” she asks, a little too gleefully.

“Absolutely,” Cisco says, because he’s seen the calculating look in Iris’ eye, and knows that they don’t have long before Iris figures them out. A big fight will prolong _that_ conversation.

On Friday, right at the end of the day, Caitlin knocks over a prototype that Cisco’s been working on for months, shattering it across the floor. Both Iris and Barry look on with horrified expressions as Cisco and Caitlin shout at each other and then storm out. Cisco and Caitlin meet at Cisco’s apartment and have ice cream while they plan out the next steps.

On Monday, Cisco and Caitlin walk in together like nothing had happened, stop in front of Iris and Barry’s confused expressions, and explain.

“You were never dating?” Iris asks slowly.

“No,” Cisco confirms. “We were tired of the two of you setting us up on awful blind dates.”

“Awful?” Barry gives Cisco puppy dog eyes. “They were awful?”

“No offense, Iris,” Caitlin says. “But I don’t want to date someone like Barry.”

“I didn’t think I-” Iris starts, but Cisco holds up his hand.

“Can we just agree not to try to set us up with people anymore?” Cisco asks. “We’re both perfectly capable of getting our own dates.”

Barry keeps pouting until Iris elbows him in the ribs. “Sure, guys. We’re sorry.”

Caitlin waves it off. “It’s okay. Just no more blind dates or set ups.”

“I promise,” Iris says and leans in to hug Caitlin before dragging Barry away.

“So,” Cisco says. “Everything’s back to normal?” There’s a weird nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach. It already feels odd not to reach out for Caitlin’s hand.

“Yeah,” Caitlin says faintly, looking a little disconcerted herself. She blinks. “No.”

Cisco almost flinches. “No?”

“No,” Caitlin says more decisively, then steps forward to catch Cisco’s face in her hands and press her lips to his firmly. “I don’t think we can go back,” she whispers.

A grin slowly crawls across Cisco’s face and he tugs her closer by the waist. “I think I can be okay with that,” he says slyly, brushing his nose against Caitlin’s.

She smiles shyly. “How are we going to tell Iris and Barry?”

Cisco groans. “We’ll worry about that later,” he mutters, kissing her again.

Caitlin sighs into his mouth and silently agrees. They’ll worry about that much later.


End file.
